Showing results by narrator "Jan Cramer" in All Categories

When Detective Kim Stone rushes to the scene of a house fire, she’s shocked to discover it’s claimed the lives of two teenage children and their parents. But this tragedy is not quite as it seems. Each body is marked by a gunshot wound, and the mother, Helen Daynes, is holding the gun. The case sparks painful childhood memories for Kim, who suffered at the hands of her own abusive mother, but it just makes her more determined to uncover the truth. As Kim untangles Helen’s past, she finds a history of clinical depression. But did it drive Helen to murder her loved ones?

One August afternoon, eight-year-old Grace Lennard skips into the garden of the childcare center she attends and vanishes into thin air. Rushing to the scene of Grace’s disappearance, Detective Kim Stone finds a chilling piece of evidence: the engraved heart bracelet belonging to Melody Jones - the little girl who was taken from a playground exactly 25 years ago. Hours before, Steven Harte had walked into Halesowen police station and confessed to having information that would lead Kim to Melody. And he told Kim she’d have a more urgent problem to deal with first.

In a busy shopping center, a little girl clutches a teddy bear, clinging to it in the absence of her mother, Katrina. Hours later, Katrina’s body is discovered in an abandoned building. For Detective Kim Stone, it looks like a quick, functional murder. But Kim’s instincts tell her there’s more to this senseless murder than meets the eye. What was the motive for killing a young mother out shopping with her child?

When Detective Kim Stone is called to the home of Samantha Brown, she finds the young woman lying in bed with her throat cut and a knife in her hand. With no sign of forced entry or struggle, Kim rules her death a tragic suicide. But a visit to Samantha’s parents rings alarm bells for Kim - there’s something they’re not telling her. And, when she spots a clue in a photograph, Kim realizes she’s made a huge mistake. Samantha didn’t take her own life, she was murdered.

After the tragic loss of his wife, Helen, Luke Hansard is desperate to keep her memory alive. In an effort to stay close to her, he reaches out to an online friend Helen often mentioned: a reclusive photographer with a curious interest in beautiful but broken objects. But first he must find her - and she doesn’t want to be found. Orla Kendrick lives alone in the ruins of a remote Suffolk castle, hiding from the haunting past that has left her physically and emotionally scarred.

The body of the beautiful English girl is discovered months later - dumped behind the back of a department store. But who was the stranger she let into the safety of her home? As Detective Rachel Prince pieces together the mystery surrounding Phoebe’s death, another young, blonde girl is found brutally murdered and abandoned in the grounds of an old theatre. In the most dangerous case of her career, Rachel must track down the faceless individual to stop the body count rising.

Harriet Greenleaf dreams of spending the summer in a beautiful ancient priory on the Somerset coast with her two best friends - but her dream is bittersweet. On the one hand, it’s a chance to reconnect three lives that have drifted apart; on the other, she has a devastating secret to share that will change everything between them forever. First to arrive is Audrey - the workaholic who’s heading for a heart attack unless she slows down and makes time for herself. Then Lisa, the happy-go-lucky flirt who’s always struggled to commit to anyone - or anything.

Iolithie is cousin to the Royal Family, content in her life as she blossoms into adulthood. Then Prince Tykavn's intended princess is slaughtered by the Unseen - the evil supernatural denizens of the Stolen Land - and Iolithie is chosen as the replacement bride. Outwardly, her Prince is all she could have hoped, but in the privacy of their bedchamber, Iolithie discovers her husband is more than just deeply religious. His elaborate rituals and rites to placate the sun-god Ama are becoming an obsession, his intense devotion a crippling illness.

Which of the worlds was real? And where were the boundaries? As a child, Helen and her friend Rianna had wandered freely through Charnwood Forest into an enchanted otherworld of brightly-coloured creatures and strangely beautiful, charismatic people. Then Rianna moved away and the enchantment vanished. Now, fifteen years later, she has returned suddenly, secretive and haunted. And soon Helen finds herself drawn back across those half-forgotten, ever-shifting boundaries between reality and fable.

Gina Gambino wants revenge. Her life has been turned upside down with the murder of her two hoodlum sons, but she knows who's done it. Her target is Don Francini, leader of one of the most powerful mafia families in Palermo. Using her brain and her body, Gina worms her way into his household, becoming first his housekeeper then his mistress, weaving a complicated web of poison and murder. It seems her plans are going well until one disastrous night.

Manon d'Epinay is on her way to Paris to wed one of the most powerful nobles in France, an adviser to King Louis. But en route, her coach is attacked by marauding revolutionaries. To save her family, Manon strikes a devil's bargain with a seductive highwayman that will seal her fate. For revolution is about to tear France apart - and transform her life forever.

James Kerrington, a key member of the British government’s secret unit, the Realm, never expected to find love again after the loss of his beloved wife. But a visit to his close friends, the Thornhills, leads to a chance meeting with Lady Eleanor Fowler. Instantly Kerrington’s whole world tilts on its axis.

Darcy has invited the Bennets and the Bingleys to spend the Christmastide’s festive days at Pemberley. But as he and Elizabeth journey to their estate to join the gathered families, a blizzard blankets the English countryside. The Darcys find themselves stranded at a small inn while Pemberley is inundated with refugees seeking shelter from the storm. Without her brother’s strong presence, Georgiana Darcy tries desperately to manage the chaos surrounding the arrival of six invited guests and 11 unscheduled visitors.

After the death of their father, sisters Elinor and Marianne Dashwood face financial ruin. At the mercy of their half brother, John, and his greedy wife, their only hope is to make a good match. But reduced circumstances make courtship difficult—especially after being turned out of their home. While responsible Elinor takes a practical approach to matters of the heart, Marianne throws herself in unreservedly. In Jane Austen’s first novel, two of literature’s most iconic characters discover that love demands a balance of passion and pragmatism.

Three troubled women. One deadly secret. Lissy and her daughter, Rosie, live a quiet life in Yorkshire. However, when events at Rosie’s school come to light, their peaceful existence is shattered. Meanwhile, middle-aged women Erica and Beverley appear to have perfect lives, but behind closed doors, things are not as they seem. All three women are tied together by a dark past that goes back to their school days. A child was murdered, and one of the women is to blame. But is the person responsible for the child’s death the same person who was blamed for it all those years ago?

Morton Hall, with its beautiful, ruined grounds and its reclusive mistress, Emilia Morton, is full of mysteries. For freelance editor Anne Marie, the wild garden has become a serene and secret refuge from her loveless marriage. The only other regular visitor is Cape, the hall's part-time gardener, who is forbidden to tend to anything except the magnificent maze or to meet his enigmatic employer. When Emilia dies, Cape and Anne Marie are astonished to find themselves among an unlikely group of villagers named in her strange will.

When Detective Erika Foster receives a tip-off that key evidence for a major narcotics case was stashed in a disused quarry on the outskirts of London, she orders for it to be searched. From the thick sludge the drugs are recovered, but so is the skeleton of a young child. The remains are quickly identified as seven-year-old Jessica Collins. The missing girl who made headline news 26 years ago.

'Out of the blue, my perfect life imploded. Let's look at my situation, sans rose tinted specs. I have: no husband, no self-esteem, no money, a six-year-old son, a boisterous puppy, a crush on my son's teacher...and an online dating profile, apparently! I am the subject of village gossip, pursued by the mafia (playground variety), turning 40 in a matter of weeks. And...my life has just gone viral!' A deliciously romantic and humorous book about love, loss and starting again.

Widowed Lady Anabel Wyndham was married right out of the schoolroom and has never before experienced the delights of a London Season. She's dazzled by the attention of the fascinating Sir Charles Norbury, a man whose touch seems to melt her very soul, but a notorious rake. She's drawn to handsome friend-of-the-family Christopher Hanford and the comfort and serenity he offers. But how does one choose between two such charming suitors?

Lady Susan has just arrived uninvited at the country home of her brother-in-law, Charles, and his unwelcoming wife, Catherine. Susan’s reputation as an accomplished coquette precedes her, and Catherine will not allow her own brother, Reginald, to fall prey to Susan’s amorous games. Despite warnings, the besotted young man finds himself falling - all to the conniving lady’s delight. And in Austen’s unfinished work, The Watsons, a family reunion sparks the passionate pursuits of four sisters.